Unlucky Love
by Meowiegirl
Summary: Dr. Quest feels like a failure because he never remarried after Jonny's mother left. Fortunately, Race is there to try and cheer him up... A little slashy towards the end.


Unlucky Love

A/N: Well, here I am in my newest fandom: classic Jonny Quest! There are not enough stories in this category... Anyway, here's a short one-shot-type-thing, it's slashy (Race x Dr. Quest), and it's got a good bit of Dr. Quest angst.

Anyway, I don't own Jonny Quest in any of its various incarnations, but I'm borrowing Race and Dr. Quest to screw around with 'em for a little bit. ;p

* * *

Summer– it always meant warm breezes, muggy weather, fishing... Staying out until the wee hours of the morning, staring up at the stars, daydreaming...

Yes, it was paradise.

Summer would have meant complete freedom, too, for most boys Jonny's age, but most boys Jonny's age weren't the son of Dr. Quest, world-famous scientist. Most boys Jonny's age had also probably never seen a Yeti, run from giant lizards, or nearly been killed too many times to count on both hands. And that particular summer, while most boys Jonny's age were out swimming, or playing baseball, or running around outdoors, Jonny Quest and his father, along with Jonny's friend Hadji, Dr. Quest's bodyguard Race Bannon, and a little bulldog named Bandit, were camped out in the middle of a dense South American rainforest, searching for signs of a creature the local natives called "Chupacabra".

The five of them were sleeping, for two weeks, in a reed hut that was around ten miles away from any other documented human life, but no one on the trip seemed to have any objections, except for the dog... And he was only upset because he'd hidden away his favorite toy at home before everyone left, and he hadn't gotten a chance to find it again. Yes, it had been a calm trip so far– one week down with not even a sighting of the so-called "Chupacabra". In fact, Dr. Quest was beginning to doubt that anything more than a normal wild animal had carried off and killed some of the local livestock, so he agreed one day to let Jonny and Hadji go out to a nearby stream and try to catch some fish for supper.

The boys left around mid-afternoon, leaving the adults with nothing much to do. Race ended up going inside the hut to take a nap, and Dr. Quest sat outside on the porch with a book, his pipe, and a pair of binoculars (the latter being in the very unlikely case that anything resembling the "Chupacabra" everyone was talking about decided to put in an appearance). The redheaded man sat in his chair and read for several hours, only looking up when the sunset deprived him of sufficient light to read by.

He put the book down and squinted around himself– _I must be getting old. My eyesight has never been this bad_, he thought with a chuckle– and started when he heard a noise in the forest. Rustling... Almost like something on two feet, walking, and the boys had gone off fishing in the other direction... Dr. Quest quickly grabbed his binoculars, focused them, and saw a flash of red, definitely coming towards him, growing nearer by the second...!

The doctor went pale. _My God_, he thought, _it's made a kill. I have to make sure the boys are safe, if that's their blood, I'll never forgive myself..._

Standing up, he felt a hand on his shoulder and heard a familiar voice:

"Hey, Doctor! What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost!"

Dr. Quest whirled around, coming to face something red... A red shirt.

"Race? Oh, you scared me... I thought it was the Chupacabra, and maybe the boys were hurt... Say, shouldn't they have come back by now?"

Race shook his head and, smiling sheepishly, said, "I was just checking on 'em. They wanted to stay for a little longer, so I said, 'Sure.' If it's okay with you, that is."

"But Race," Dr. Quest replied, "the boys are in the other direction from the one you came by!"

"Now, that's the embarrassing part, Doctor. I got completely lost on the way back. Must've been a half an hour I was wandering around, at least."

Dr. Quest sat back in his chair, and Race sat in the chair next to him.

"Now I feel pretty foolish," the doctor laughed. "Just imagine... I thought you were the Chupacabra!"

Race laughed as well, and then both men sat in an agreeable silence for a few minutes.

Dr. Quest spoke up first. "Race, I'm not sure where this came from, but Jonny... He's not going to grow up like a normal boy."

Race frowned slightly in confusion. "Well, all these adventures can hardly be bad for him, can they?"

"No, it's not like that at all," Dr. Quest replied. "It's just... He barely sees other children his age aside from Hadji, and I teach him at home, and besides..."

Race knew that the other man was trying to say something difficult, so he kept his mouth shut and waited.

The older man continued quietly. "Besides, Race, ever since Jonny's mother left– Jonny was barely one– he's only had us for parents. I know we both love him, and we look out for him and teach him, but it's just_ not the same_. And Jonny knows this too."

"Yeah," Race said. It was all he could say to that.

"I feel almost like I failed him, sometimes," Dr. Quest murmured. "Maybe I should have gone out, fallen in love with some woman, and lived with her and Jonny as a family, but the more I think about it, the more I realize I really don't want to do that. Do _you_ understand that, Race? Or am I merely being selfish?"

"No, Doctor," Race answered. "You're not being selfish. And you're kinda stupid about women sometimes, anyway. No offense."

"No offense taken," Dr. Quest laughed softly. "But Race, you have to admit that you're hardly a Don Juan yourself!"

"Don't I know it! I didn't think Jade could slap so hard!"

"I suppose we're _both _just horribly unlucky with women, in that case," Dr. Quest sighed, trying not to weep with frustration when he heard Race mention Jade's name.

"Aw, it's alright, Doctor..."

Dr. Quest looked down to see a comforting hand on his forearm, and then he looked up to see Race smiling at him, warmly, almost–

– _lovingly_._ Oh, I wish_, Dr. Quest thought to himself.

"...you don't need them, you've got–"

"Dad! Race! We're back! And boy, did we catch a big one!"

Race looked up, and went to greet the boys and see what they'd caught. Dr. Quest, meanwhile, still sat on his chair, head in hands.

_Race, I know what you were about to say, and believe me, it would have been appreciated more than you think. _

A bird let out a mournful cry in the distance, the tone echoing Dr. Quest's emotions.

_And I may be fairly unintelligent when it comes to women, but I'm even worse when it comes to..._

The doctor stood up, stretched, and went inside to start making dinner.

_You..._

_

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_

Wow. That took me like an hour and a half to type up. But I've written and re-written the damn thing in my head for a week! Argh.

A companion fic should be coming soon, starring Dr. Quest with a broken leg, caring!Race, and chicken soup. And more slashyness than this. :P


End file.
